Friday, March 21, 2014

Ukraine - Russia Developments


Events are moving swiftly in the situation between the Russian Federation and Ukraine:
  • Ukraine and the European Union signed an agreement creating stronger economic ties and signaling support for further economic sanctions against Russia as required.
  • Russian autocrat Vladimir "The Invader" Putin signed the annexation of Crimea, making it (in Russia's eyes) part of the Russian Federation.  While he claimed that additional moves against Ukraine's sovereignty were not anticipated, Europe and the U.S. are carefully watching Russian troop movements across the eastern border of Ukraine.  
President Obama also announced sanctions against a key Russian bank's assets and against several in Putin's inner circle.

BONUS:  Anne Applebaum has an op/ed about how we've been focused on the wrong narrative in thinking about Russia and the West:
For the first time, many are beginning to understand that the narrative is wrong: Russia is not a flawed Western power. Russia is an anti-Western power with a different, darker vision of global politics.

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